By ANNA USHER

Seven homes will be demolished for a controversial $85 million apartment block after the NSW Government approved the project, despite 170 objections and opposition from Mosman Council.

The Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) granted consent on Monday for Grand Noble Project 1 Pty Ltd to build 44 apartments at 11-23 Rangers Ave, Mosman.

The development will include 10 affordable homes to be run by Bridge Housing for 15 years.

Mosman Collective first revealed the Mega Lot amalgamation in May 2025, after homeowners banded together and decided to sell in a deal one source put at “around $60 million”.

The developer’s environmental impact statement made its case for the site: “Currently containing seven dwellings with large, under-utilised front gardens and a south-facing orientation above a busy road, the site’s existing form does not make the best use of its location or potential.”

The 3,594sqm landholding sits on a sandstone shelf between Rangers Ave and Bloxsome Lane, where the homes at 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21 and 23 will be demolished.

Among them is an original Victorian residence that records show was built in 1890.

In its October 26 determination, the DPHI said the project would cost an estimated $85,135,825 and create 124 construction jobs.

The new building will rise to 24.39m (six to seven storeys) and comprise 16 two-bedroom apartments, 23 three-bedroom apartments and 5 four-bedroom apartments, with three basement levels of parking offering 91 car spaces.

Behind the site on Holt Avenue, the developer’s own view study rated the loss of city skyline, Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House views from numbers 16, 18 and 26 as “severe”.

The department conceded “the level of view impacts from some nearby properties is significant” but concluded “the interruption of these views is reasonable”, because the views are “highly distant”.

The department said it received 174 public submissions, 170 of them objections, with key issues listed as traffic, parking and waste collection (80% of respondents), compatibility with local character (70%), building height and scale (60%) and affordability (45%).

Just two submissions supported the development.

All 21 trees on the site will be removed, including four eucalypts, with 35 to be planted, and the rock face along 17-23 Rangers Avenue will be kept and protected.

Building work is limited to 7am to 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays, and the consent, signed by Deputy Secretary Ashraf El-Sherbini for the Planning Minister, lapses if work has not started within two years.